29/07/2026
URGENT attention all purchasers! Heads up if you're about to book a building and pest inspection.
I've had SIX this month who weren't properly qualified. Every time, when we asked for their registration number or proof of insurance, silence. That silence is the tell. A genuinely registered inspector can give you their number in ten seconds.
To legally use a building report that has major defects to walk away from a contract, the person who wrote it MUST be one of these:
1. Registered Building Surveyor;
2. Registered Building Inspector;
3. Registered Domestic Builder;
4. or Architect.
Nothing else counts, not a pest licence, not "years of experience," not a course certificate.
Before you pay for one, ask which of those four they are, get their registration number, ask if they've got PI insurance, then check it yourself on the VBA practitioner search by registration number, not just their name. Names can match more than one person. Numbers don't.
https://bams.vba.vic.gov.au/bams/s/practitioner-search
If they go quiet when you ask, walk away. Ask us first if you're not sure.
